My Sunday…..
Yesterday was a day of reflection after the rather unexpected and unreal happenings on Thursday night and Friday.
I had one really positive interaction on Friday that gave me a perspective on why leaving the EU could be good for the country, but that was mixed into a day that was otherwise filled with many not so positive discussions.
Yesterday’s reflection prompted lots of reading. I searched for a better understanding of the challenges that clearly lay ahead for all of us and, generally speaking, found mainly arguments for why the outcome of the referendum was a bad one.
Early this morning, while walking with my dogs, I stopped on the river side to watch the world go by. The sun was shining and there was a calm around me and in me. The calm was broken by the vibration of my phone. Why do I carry that device with me so addictively?
I quickly sent a response to the text that had arrived but made the mistake of clicking through a notification and found myself flicking through tweets. One of the early ones I viewed linked me to an insightful and well-written article in the FT that argued the financial case for leaving the EU well and so I both retweeted it and commented gratefully to the original tweeter.
I sensed I was starting to understand better some aspects of the debate that had prompted people to see Brexit as the best way forward. My fascination prompted me to look for other people’s reactions to the article and my heart sank.
Of the less offensive jibes and generalisations about those that might not have voted for Brexit was a discussion that started with these words: “I wonder when Remainers will calm down?” and continued to suggest that “tea and cake on Sunday” might work. Nothing too offensive. But, one of the following responses suggested that: “[Remainers represented] a lot of high minded people with very low respect for democracy”. I found myself offended and compelled to respond.
I still feel my suggestion that this was “one of the most crass and inflammatory tweets I’ve seen yet” was not as critical as it might have been.
The retort was rapid and brief: “I would advise reading more broadly”.
I remained pretty calm and responded that I felt I read quite broadly and also felt I understood a little about democracy. I also reflected on the fact that I had got involved in the thread due to the link posted by the individual’s CEO. I’d done some searches to find out who I was talking to. He had been doing the same thing so the search wasn’t challenging.
When I endavoured to link democracy and diversity, the CEO joined in and proffered that they had 4 nationalities represented in their company of 7. By implication I suppose, they’d done their bit for diversity.
My attempt to have a reasoned discussion about the fact that most people in the UK supported democracy was met with me being blocked. Nothing really lost and fool me for getting involved. But, and it’s a big BUT.
Today has seen the main UK political parties in disarray. Extraordinarily, a man I truly don’t respect has written the most excellent analysis of what might be needed, which I’ve shared elsewhere. As he suggests, there’s going to need to be a coming together in the middle ground so that the Far Right and Far Left aren’t given the opportunity to destroy democracy as we know it.
It’s not just a Brexiteers versus Remainers debate that needs to be resolved. There are far bigger challenges and the timelines of the people I interacted with earlier today touch the surface of one of those other challenges, which involves making the ‘elite’ more accountable.
I’ve used that term reluctantly but because there were many references in the threads I reviewed that extolled the ‘elite’ and ‘intellectual class’, yet included a posting that still has me questioning how we’ve got to this point. It reads as follows: “if you’re planning on becoming a self-respecting neoliberal [implication: you’re a Remainer], you’ll have to brush up on the following:
Leave aside whether the UK population should have been asked to partake in a referendum on such an important matter, my belief is that the referendum asked a far too simplistic question. Leave or remain allowed the wrong people and the media to create an illusion of essential polarisation.
The referendum was never intended as a right versus left political question.
The extremes on both sides of the leave and remain camps seem to be politically motivated but the way forward in my humble opinion is to de-politicise the solution.
All those who believe in true democracy, diversity, inclusion, individual choice and equality should work together on a way forward. We don’t need calls for new referendums. There’s an emerging requirement to find an alternative to an immediate and full exit from the EU and that should be the focus.
